I Think I Wanna Marry You
by Frankie McStein
Summary: 5 Times Someone Asked Juliet Higgins To Marry Them (and One of the Two Times She Said Yes)


1.

According to the young adult books her aunt her bought for her birthday, much to her father's dismay, teenage relationships were meant to move quite quickly. Now that she was finally thirteen, Juliet had been looking forward to the whole getting a boyfriend business. It wasn't what you might call a whirlwind romance. In fact it had been three weeks of catching Gerry looking at her across the classroom before he plucked up the nerve to actually talk to her. It took him another week to ask her to be his girlfriend. After a full month of giggling and whispering with her friends, Juliet was thrilled to finally get to say Gerry was her boyfriend. For the next two and a half months, they were inseparable. Their friends got thoroughly annoyed with them, and their teachers insisted they not sit next to each other while their parents all smiled indulgently.

Julilet's mother did sit her down one day to give her an excruciating version of 'the talk.' She didn't mention anything they hadn't already covered in school, and Juliet spent most of the time trying desperately not to listen while her mum talked about things like kissing and used phrases like "when your dad and I were courting." She laughed about it later with Gerry, who told her he had been through something similar with his dad.

They did all the things young people in love were meant to do. They went to the cinema and only watched half the film, spending the other half kissing when they thought whichever parent was acting as chaperone wasn't paying attention. They sent each other text messages when they were meant to be paying attention in class. They spoke on the phone, tying up the landlines for hours, when they were meant to be focusing on their homework. To their teenage hearts it felt like their love was the real thing.

So when Gerry came over one Saturday and told her his dad was being transferred and they would have to move to Sri Lanka, Juliet was inconsolable. Gerry was only there for an hour or so, and she cried the entire time. He explained all the arrangements had been made and they would spend the next month packing up the house before leaving after the summer holiday finished. His parents had known for weeks, he said while offering her yet another tissue, but hadn't told him so as not to spoil the time he had left with his friends. When he left, she sobbed on her mother's shoulder while her father huffed and awkwardly patted her shoulder. He was never very comfortable with crying women. He did make her a cup of coffee though, even though he had told her she wasn't allowed caffeine until she turned 14. Although she would tell anyone who asked that she was simply devastated, she did feel a little better at the idea that her dad was treating her like an adult.

The next few weeks went by so quickly that Juliet and Gerry, who swore to each other they were mentally capturing every moment, struggled at times to remember one day from the next. Gerry flew out to Sri Lanka with his dad to look at the new house and take a tour of his soon to be new school. He had promised to call her every day, but then she got a postcard explaining the charges were too high.

Two weeks later, during which time they hadn't seen or spoken to each other at all, Juliet was finding young hearts weren't quite as fragile as she'd thought. She'd tried moping around the house and sighing dramatically, but it was the holidays and the weather was shockingly bright and being stuck indoors didn't seem all that appealing. She had tried hanging out with her friends but not actually joining in the conversation, thinking a sort of dignified silence would be fitting for someone who's heart had been shattered. But her friends were a noisy bunch and the conversations were always full of shrieks of laughter, and she couldn't help chiming in and laughing along with the rest of them. One day, she'd even given some consideration to not eating, spending meal time pushing her food around the plate and claiming she was just too heartsick to stomach anything. But her mum had made chicken casserole with dumplings that very night and, well, Juliet was a growing girl with a healthy appetite.

When Gerry came knocking on the door, he looked disheveled and seemed taken aback by her healthy appearance.

"I haven't been able to sleep," he told her, running his fingers through his hair. Juliet supposed she was meant to be touched by his devotion, but she only felt annoyed she hadn't thought of claiming lack of sleep herself. "I keep thinking how wonderful it would be if you could come with me to Sri Lanka." He fumbled in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a ring. Juliet recognised it as his mother's wedding ring.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded as he held the ring out to her.

"If we get married then mum and dad can't possibly expect you to stay in the UK when we move." He looked so earnest and happy but Juliet could feel a storm cloud passing over her own face.

"And what if I want to stay in the UK? If we get married, will you stay here with me?" She stared at him, at the confused look on his face, and wondered why the pop songs made broken hearts out to be such a time consuming thing to deal with. Hers seemed to have healed in less than a month.

"Don't you understand? I'm asking you to marry me."

"And I'm saying no."

When she walked back into the house, her parents were both sitting on the couch, well away from the living room window. Even so, there was an odd smirk on her mum's face, her dad was hiding his face behind his newspaper, and Juliet had the impression they knew exactly what had just transpired.

"Boys are so stupid," she annouced with a sniff as she walked past and headed to the stairs. She was eternally grateful her parents managed to wait until she had closed her bedroom door before they started laughing.

2.

Juliet was starting to feel a little light-headed and made her way to the bar to grab a bottle of water. The club was so hot, and the cocktails she had been drinking were stronger than she had expected. Her friends were lost on the crowded dance floor somewhere but she wasn't too worried. They were all sensible enough and they would find each other before long. Their motto on a night out was "No Woman Left Behind" and they took it seriously, especially as Juliet was, technically, too young to be out drinking.

When the man came and stood next to her, she ignored him at first, expecting him to order a drink and then leave. She was still scanning the dance floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tammy or Nichola. Then the man put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to try to talk to her, and she realised Mike or Jack would be more useful.

"You're so pretty!" the drunk called in her ear, struggling to be heard over the thumping music.

She gave him a tight smile and tried to move away. She wasn't a stranger to people hitting on her and usually shut it down easily with a firm but polite "thank you but I really am too young for you." But she couldn't very well say that while she was standing in a nightclub. The man was patting her head now, and she winced at the weight of his hand. She thought he was probably trying to stroke her hair but all he was succeeding in doing was tapping her skull with increasing force.

"My name's Brian!" he yelled, pressing his lips right up to her ear this time and making her flinch away.

She nodded and gave him another smile, this one even smaller than the last, and tried to turn her head away in a pointed manner. She had once witnessed her mother shut a man down in that way and had always wanted to try it. Unfortunately, either she needed more practice or Brian was too drunk to be affected.

He put his hand on her cheek and tried to pull her head closer to him so he could shout something else at her.

She ducked away out of his grasp and apparently caught the attention of one of the bar staff.

"We don't tolerate people making trouble in here." Unlike Brian, the bartender was easily able to make himself heard over the bass.

Brian threw his hands up in some sort of semblance of an apology and staggered away.

Juliet tried to give the bartender a thankful smile, but he had already turned back to the queue of punters. She finished her water and headed back out to the dance floor, and, by the time the five of them were ready to leave, Juliet had forgotten all about Brian and how pretty he thought she was.

"Hey, gorgeous!" The yell came as they were leaving, giggling slightly in a way that told every passerby they were a little drunk. "I was hoping I'd see you again!"

"Oh lord," Tammy laughed as she caught sight of the man yelling. "He's off his face!"

Juliet turned to see Brian of the heavy hands leaning against a wall and waving frantically.

"He hit on me at the bar."

Her friends looked disgusted.

"He's gotta be forty years old!"

"That's just gross."

"Watch out; he's getting closer."

Sure enough, Brian was headed toward them. His progress was so funny that none of them thought to start walking away. He would lean heavily against the wall for a moment, push himself off and stagger a step or two, fall back against the wall and rest for a moment, and repeat the whole cycle. The five of them were laughing by the time he reached them, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Come with me," he slurred, reaching out with his free hand to Juliet.

"Not happening, mate." Mike intercepted the hand as he spoke. "She's too young for you."

Brian looked about ready to cry. "No no no. Come on, pretty." He was whining in a petulant sort of voice.

"What part of 'I'm too young' didn't you understand?" Juliet demanded, feeling angry with herself for having continued to drink after the bartender had chased Brian away earlier.

"Oh that's nothing. We'll make it legal. We'll get married."

"We bloody well will not!"

It might have been her affronted tone of voice or it may have been the idea itself, but Juliet's friends all started laughing again.

A heartbeat later, Brian joined in, either not realising or not caring that the laughter was most likely at his expense. "Good joke," he muttered as he turned slowly around. "Such a good joke."

The group stood and watched him stagger away for a full minute before realising it was getting cold and heading home themselves.

3.

There was something unnerving about the way The General was staring at her. He'd been acting strangely all day, and Juliet was starting to worry her cover had been blown. It was lousy timing; she had turned the asset who Juliet's handler had said Her Majesty required and gathered overwhelming evidence of the general's crimes. Earlier that afternoon, she had called in the activation code that would see The General and his lieutenants arrested and her heading home to Blighty. But it was a convoluted plan that would take time to be ready and she was starting to think she was going to have to cut and run. It was worrying her; she'd never had to make a hot exit before and wasn't looking forward to trying to get away from The General and his men with only her Browning to cover her back.

She calmed herself by running through combat training scenarios in her head, reminding herself she would have the element of surprise if it came to a fight. The waiter interrupted her mental pep talk, pouring a glass of wine and murmuring something about taking their order. She stayed quiet and let The General order for them both. He liked to order for his date. It was something that had been noted in his file, something that had served to endear her to him when they had first met so many months ago.

"I do so appreciate you ordering for me." She had been careful not to play the fake French accent up too much. "It makes me feel like you are taking care of me." She had smiled brightly while tipping her head to the side, revealing the creamy skin of her neck. It wasn't at all easy to balance the innocent woman act with that of intentional seductress, but she found it surprisingly simple. By the end of the date, the poor man was putty in her hand. For all his power and influence, he had practically begged her for a second date.

But now, she thought as he was requesting they remove the cheese from her dish, he may well be planning how to kill her, debating with himself whether she should be questioned first. Would he do it himself? Or would he sit and watch while someone else did the dirty work? She knew from his carefully assembled profile he had never objected to getting his hands dirty. If he knew she was a British agent, if he knew she had been playing him all these months, he would probably enjoy taking a personal interest in her interrogation.

"You remember our last meal here?" he asked, his eyes fixed on his wine glass instead of on her.

"But of course." Even though he wasn't looking, she made sure to smile and keep playing the doting girlfriend. He had told her once her smile was the thing that had made him fall in love with her, and she wasn't going to throw away this operation because of her own paranoia. "It was the night you told me of your ex-wife." Of course, thanks to the excellent recon the advance team had done, she had already known the story. How his wife had left him for another man, how she had been pregnant at the time, how both she and the baby had died in the delivery room. That part of the story was public knowledge. What the public didn't know was that the wife had died with a massive amount of Warfarin in her system. Or that her lover had vanished shortly after. Or that it had taken him four days to die.

"You…" He swallowed hard and finally met her gaze. "You make me forget about the pain she caused me."

She felt her eyes widen as he lifted his hand to the table and placed a small box in front of her.

"I would have to be a fool to let you get away from me." He flipped open the lid, revealing a stunning diamond ring nestled in the ivory fabric inside.

Juliet couldn't hold in the gasp, although it was at least partly down to the relief washing through her. Raising her eyes, she could see fear and hope on his face, and shadows moving in the street beyond the window. The frosted glass made it impossible to see faces but some seemed to be grouping together by the entrance. One of them made a gesture she was intimately familiar with and she dropped her hand to her thigh, feeling the grip of her gun through the fabric of her dress, counting down from three in her head.

"I'm flattered." She let the accent drop and spoke in her own English tones. "But I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."

The door burst open and a group of men ran in, covering the room with their rifles. Juliet stood and pulled her own sidearm, aiming it directly at The General, who was staring open mouthed at her. More men entered the dining room from the back, coming in through the kitchen and herding the kitchen staff in front of them.

The General didn't react as two of the men seized his arms and snapped a pair of cuffs on him. He was lifted from his chair by two pairs of firm hands, banging into the table as he stood. He tried to glare at her as he was being led away, but the white wine that had spilled on the crotch of his white trousers rather spoiled the effect.

4.

It wasn't every day that Robin's Nest echoed with the yells of children. It wasn't every day that Robin's Nest even had children present, let alone children who were enjoying themselves so much. T.C.'s football team had won their latest tournament with points to spare, and he had arranged a day trip to an archery range as a celebration. An apologetic phone call and a double booking had threatened the day until Magnum had mentioned a photo he'd seen of Robin on the grounds of the estate with a bow in his hands and a target just visible behind him. A few phone calls from Juliet and a frantic few hours of work from them all had transformed the south lawn into a temporary range.

The bus with the team and their families had pulled up at the gate just as the final targets were being set up, and, before long, everyone was busy trying to show off their sometimes-questionable skills. Rick had surprised everyone by telling them he knew how to fire a bow already. Juliet surprised no one when she said the same. The two soon had all the football players gathered around them as they demonstrated how to safely nock the arrows and how to properly pull back the bows. It didn't take long for everyone to be set up with a target, the kids showing their parents and siblings how to use the equipment under Rick's watchful eye.

Juliet had been distracted by Magnum asking for a lesson in archery, and the two had quickly performed their increasingly common trick of forgetting they weren't the only two people on the planet.

"I thought the White Knight knew how to use a bow and arrow." Juliet's voice was all fake innocence.

Magnum had given a small smile, the one Rick and T.C knew meant he thought Higgins was being cute. "He might, but Thomas Magnum doesn't."

"Are you saying the things Robin put in his books aren't real?" She'd blinked up at him, making him laugh.

"He might exaggerate. A little. Occasionally."

"Does that mean you really did parachute from the upper atmosphere?"

"I may have been a mile or two below it."

His first arrow had fallen from the bow. His second attempt saw the bow string catch his fingers. All in all, though, Magnum had proved to be a quick study, a fact Juliet had claimed to be annoyed by.

They were now standing at the far end of the line of targets, deeply committed to an impromptu contest, and she was not annoyed at all. In fact, she was laughing as Magnum tried to distract her and throw off her aim.

"They're acting just like my mom and dad," Luka complained to his best friend Ano. "When they get like this, it always leads to kissing." He shook his head, deeply unimpressed with the adults in his life.

T.C. looked away to hide his laughter and saw Rick doing the same.

Magnum and Juliet just carried on ignoring the rest of the planet until Pika's younger brother, three-year-old Kai, walked over to them and tugged on Juliet's top to get her attention.

"Hello, Kai." She handed Mangum her bow as she dropped to her knees to give the young boy a hug.

It was no secret he had something of a crush on her, usually blushing and hiding behind his brother or mom whenever she tried to talk to him, but he seemed to have dug into a well of courage today.

"Will you marry me?" His voice was as determined as a three-year-old's voice could be, hands clenched in small fists at his sides.

Juliet made absolutely certain she kept a straight face as she answered him. "Oh, Kai, I would be so honored." Her voice was as gentle as she could make it. "But I don't think it will work out between us right now. You have school, and I have a job. We'd never see each other." The little boy's face fell, and Juliet instantly felt awful. "I tell you what," she said, lifting his chin with her hand, "wait, oh, five years, and if you still want to marry me then, we'll talk again."

"Five years?" Kai held up one hand, fingers still pudgy with baby fat. "That's this many?" At Juliet's nod, he beamed. "That's nothing. I'll be back." He took off back to his mom at a run, clearly excited to tell her about his engagement.

As Juliet stood, she thought she heard Magnum mutter something about little kids being brave and gave him a quizzical look. "What was that?"

"Kids. So cute sometimes."

She nodded and accepted the bow he was holding out to her, missing the way he sighed as she turned back to the target.

5.

Deliveries at the club were almost always backbreaking and exhausting. Being such a popular spot in such a high traffic location meant the King Kamehameha Club didn't close its doors until 4 in the morning. The popularity of the location also meant deliveries started at Oh Heck No O'Clock in the morning in order to keep the heavy trucks out of sight of the daytime tourists.

Rick wasn't the sort of manager to ask his staff to do anything he wouldn't do himself, and, so, he stayed after the club closed once a week. He would buy breakfast for whoever had drawn the short straw and was working the delivery with him, and they would kill time and help each other stay awake for the two and a half hours between the front doors being locked and the truck pulling up to the loading bay out back.

This time, his bartender had begged off with less than an hour left before closing, something about his daughter being sick, leaving Rick thinking he would be dealing with the delivery on his own. He had just sat down with his third coffee when his phone rang.

"Higgy!"

"_Good morning, Rick."_ There was an odd note to her voice that made him tense.

"Is everything okay?" He couldn't help it. Her proximity to Magnum meant an unexpected call could well be telling him he had lost another brother, and he was too tired to hide the anxiety spike.

"_Mostly,"_ came the reply. There was no fear or panic in her voice, so Rick let himself relax. "_Magnum and I have been working all night. We were headed back to the estate when the car died. I seem to remember you saying you were working on this morning and thought you might like some company while we wait for the tow truck."_

He happily agreed, wondering if he could convince Magnum to help out with the heavier crates somehow. "Come around back; I'll leave the door open for you."

In hindsight, he should have known something was wrong. The security camera over the loading area just happened to have stopped working the previous night, the guy who was meant to be there with him just happened to be called away, his delivery just happened to be running late, and the driver just happened to be a new guy. It didn't take Thomas-Magnum-style deductive abilities to figure out there was something going on. But Rick was tired, distracted by the unexpected arrival of his friends (and the bruises they were both sporting), and so it came as a shock to find himself kneeling on the floor of his own office with three guns being waved around.

"I'm not going to repeat myself. Open the safe."

Rick kept his mouth shut, exchanging a look with Magnum who was being held on the other side of the room. Higgins had been dragged to a booth by a fourth man with some vague threat of being used a leverage before Rick and Magnum had been taken up the stairs.

"What's the problem?" the nervous-looking man snapped as his two friends shifted anxiously. "Open it!"

"Okay, but it's pretty much empty." Rick didn't move, and the leader pushed the barrel of his gun against Rick's temple. Out of the corner of his eye, Rick saw Magnum shift, but whatever move he was going to make was cut off by the two guns that snapped up to aim at him.

"We deposit the night's takings as soon as the doors close. A truck comes from the bank. All that's in the safe now is the float for the tills."

The three men all started talking, none of them seeming to care what the other was saying, until one of them raised the problem of their faces being seen. So no one heard the muffled yells from downstairs or the distant crash of glass shattering as Higgins took advantage of the raised voices and made short work of dispatching her guard.

A sudden swing of his arm and the leader's gun smashed into Rick's temple, sending him sprawling to the floor in a daze. Magnum was given the same treatment, and the two men were quickly tied up.

"We can't let them go now that they know what we look like."

"I said we should have worn masks! I told you!"

"Too late now." This from the one who had done all the talking and who, rather than looking nervous, now looked to be enjoying himself. "There's plenty of booze just in here, and way more downstairs. That means lots of flammable liquid. It'll be a sad accident."

Rick could hear the words and knew he should be panicking, but his body just didn't seem to want to cooperate. None of them noticed a whispered conversation taking place just outside the door. The three men were splashing around alcohol, taking the opportunity to drink mouthfuls of whiskey they could probably never afford to buy even by the shot. The man who had done all the talking seemed to take a lot of pleasure in throwing the alcohol directly into Magnum's face, smirking every time Magnum winced at the burning in his eyes.

If the five men in the room could have heard the phone call, two of them would have started grinning at the fury that was building in the woman's voice. On the other end of the line, a harassed sounded Detective Katsumoto was begging Higgins not to do something Magnum would do. As he said that, Magnum started coughing, and Rick managed to snap back to himself at the sight of his friend having an entire bottle of rum tipped over his face. He started struggling and yelling, and the door flew open.

One of the men had been standing near it and was knocked over by the impact, crashing through a glass table and lying limp. Two shots rang out and the other two men dropped as pain burned in their legs.

"Higgy!" Rick didn't care that he sounded so relieved to see her. "Thomas?" he called, happy to see Higgins head straight to his friend's side and haul him upright.

"I'm good." He sounded a little breathless. "Just need a shower."

"Katsumoto will be here soon." Higgins had already freed Magnum's hands and was crossing to Rick as she spoke. "He can take care of these idiots, and we can get you that shower." She paused, throwing him a look. "Assuming the car has been sorted, and we aren't still stranded."

Rick couldn't help but laugh at the insulted look on Magnum's face. He blamed the stress and sleep deprivation for what he said next. "Higgy, you're one in a million. Will you marry me?" Rick threw his newly freed arms out as he spoke, and Higgins laughed.

"No. Sorry." Her voice was matter-of-fact, and Rick grinned.

"Let me pour you a drink?"

"Oh, yes; I'd love one."

Neither of them noticed the way Magnum had tensed slightly at the question, or the way he relaxed at her answer.

+1

The fact that Magnum and Higgins had fallen into a relationship had surprised exactly two people: Magnum and Higgins. Everyone else was just surprised it had taken them so long.

T.C. found out after a tense standoff at the end of a case he'd somehow been dragged into. Higgins had been grabbed by their bad guy of the week, a knife pressed so hard against her throat it had drawn blood. When it was over, T.C. had trussed the guy up with his own belt and turned back to see Magnum pulling Higgins in for a kiss. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if they were trusting him to keep it a secret and debating if telling Rick counted as blabbing.

Rick put two and two together that same day. They had decided to have a "thank goodness no one died today" celebration with BBQ food and beer. It started off quietly enough, but, after a few drinks each, someone floated the idea of playing a drinking game. The more they drank, the closer Magnum and Higgins got to each other until, finally, after leaving her seat to get another round, Higgins simply dropped down on Magnum's lap. He immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, and the two looked so comfortable Rick immediately knew he wasn't looking at a couple of intoxicated friends. After all, no matter how drunk they'd been, he had never sat in Magnum's lap.

When Kumu had walked into the guest house to find them both fast asleep on the couch, she hadn't thought anything about it at first. Since they'd started officially working together, they had also started spending a lot more time together, and it wasn't all that unusual for a difficult case to see them both dropping off in his living room or her office. Then she noticed Magnum was shirtless. And that Higgins had a bright Hawaiian shirt draped over her. And that Magnum had his head in Higgins' lap. And that she had quite obviously been running her fingers through his hair before she fell asleep. Kumu simply muttered "about time, too" before tiptoeing away.

Katsumoto would tell anyone who would listen that he didn't like Magnum and didn't care about the man's personal life before pointing out that, as a detective, he was an expert in body language and had figured out they were a couple long before anyone else. The truth was that, while he had known before anyone else, he hadn't figured anything out on his own. A cheating husband who had threatened Magnum after the P.I. had exposed his affair had been found dead and security footage showed a man matching Magnum's description fleeing the scene. The same footage put the man's murder at around ten past two in the morning, and the pair had been forced to admit they had been together at the time. Katsumoto had barely reacted beyond adding an exclamation mark to the page in his notebook.

The fact that Magnum was planning on proposing was known by two people: Magnum and Higgins. After all, they had both had pretty awful experiences in the past, and these were the sort of things that needed to be discussed.

After taking such a long time to admit they had feelings for each other, no one else was expecting much else to happen for a long while. So, when Magnum told them they were having a small get-together for Higgins' birthday, everyone expected it to be pizza and beer and some old action films. And that was how it started out. But then, while T.C. and Katsumoto were arguing the pros and cons of _Tango and Cash_ vs. _Kelly's Heroes_ while Magnum and Rick sat on the couch encouraging them and Higgins was grabbing the tray of chicken wings from the counter, Magnum's voice suddenly rang out.

"Hey, Higgy. Will you marry me?"

Everyone froze, eyes wide. Everyone, that is, except Higgins.

"Of course I will," came the answer, although her voice wasn't quite as casual as she seemed to be aiming for. "I'm surprised you felt you needed to ask."

The other three men in the room exchanged wide-eyed looks, but Magnum just shrugged.

"It seemed like the sort of thing we should both have a say in." He smiled at her as she sat next to him and put the chicken wings on the table.

"In that case," and she returned his smile with a blinding smile of her own that lit up her entire face, "I say yes."


End file.
